WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — The metro experienced a decent amount of rain on Saturday morning, but it didn’t stop kids from getting up close and personal with a variety of trucks.

The Des Moines Children’s Museum hosted their 3rd annual Touch A Truck event at the Valley West Mall. The parking lot was filled with trucks from police cruisers, fire trucks, construction vehicles and more. The West Des Moines police and fire departments took part along with others.

The museum expected there to be close to 1,500 people there this year, but the rain bumped those expectations down to 500-700. The event was completely free to attend. Even as the rain continued to pour down there were still hundreds out at the mall. Parents pulled out their umbrellas to let their kids explore the different vehicles. Several different kids explained which tuck was their favorite and why:

“Uh fire truck. Probably cause there was all the stuff on the sides and it’s all red”

“Uh the semi because it was fun honking the horn and it seems louder outside than inside the truck.”

“Rockpiler because it can do so much more work than this and it can just push rocks all day long instead of just hauling them,”

The Des Moines Children’s Museum was very happy with the turnout in the rain.

“Yeah well I am not too surprised that people are inside, It’s always busy at the museum,” said Laura Johnson, the Director of the Des Moines Children’s Museum. “But I was kind of surprised when it was still raining out here I looked outside and a lot of people are out here with their umbrellas checking out the trucks, so I was really happy with the turnout.”

The plan was to have the event outdoors be free, but as mother nature ran her course, the museum allowed free attendance in the museum for all families there from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The museum was also collecting donations for those who wanted to, as they are a nonprofit organization.